1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a new and improved thin-walled multi-label container, and more particularly, to a thin-walled liquid container configured to receive and protect multiple labels applied thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
Blow molded thin-walled plastic bottles are conventionally used to hold liquids and beverages, and are particularly suited to hold milk, water, and juice. For example, thin-walled light weight milk containers have been used commercially in a variety of standardized sizes including one-gallon, three-quart, half-gallon, one-quart, and other sizes. These standard size containers have a generally standardized square or rectangular shape, as is well known.
An exemplar of known thin-walled plastic bottles is U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,455 to Cochran which shows a thin-walled plastic container construction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,046,275 to Virog, Jr. et al. discloses a milk bottle having a horizontal band for stiffening the container and a volumetric insert for fine adjustments to the volume of the molded container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,506 discloses a container having an attached handle.
Plastic containers having a square or rectangular shape, including those disclosed above, have been found to be more suitable than other types of plastic containers for use in applications where a relatively high degree of mechanical and automated processing is involved, such as automatic filling procedures. Generally, such plastic containers have four generally flattened side walls interconnected by curved corner portions. A handle is often integrally formed on the container and constructed as to not extend beyond the perimeter of the container.
Generally such thin-walled plastic bottles are conveyed along an automatic filling line of a bottling and packaging plant and packed for shipment into a carrying case such as a milk crate. Because the handle does not extend beyond the perimeter, regardless of how the container is fed into a filling line, carrying case or the like, the container handle does not interfere with the motion of the container. Furthermore, such thin-walled plastic bottles have a high degree of standardization with respect to size and shape, as noted above, in order to facilitate motion along a filling line and placement into a carrying case.
When traveling along the filling line, a wall of one plastic bottle abuts directly against a wall of another adjacent plastic bottle. Although such contact between bottles is desirable because it serves to convey the bottles along a filling line, such contact is disadvantageous because it causes wear and other damage to any labels applied to the bottles. Such wear and other damage affects the aesthetics of the bottle which may in turn affect a consumer""s decision when purchasing a plastic bottle product.
Milk and water bottles are conventionally transported from dairies and water bottling plants to retail outlets in rectangular carrying cases which are standard in much of the industry. The bodies of trucks employed to transport them and the dimensions of conveyors used to handle them are similarly standardized to conform to the standard case size.
When known thin-walled plastic bottles are filled and loaded into a standard carrying case, two or three walls of one bottle directly abut against and contact two or three other bottles. Such contact may also cause wear and other damage to any label applied to the bottles.
Known thin-walled plastic bottles have the further disadvantage of being configured to receive only one type of label. For example, a known conventional plastic bottle has a flat surface adapted to receive an adhesive label. Such known plastic bottles, however, are ill-suited for receiving a plastic-sleeve type label because the known plastic bottles lack means to prevent the plastic-sleeve label from slipping off the bottle after the label has been applied.
What is needed is an improved thin-walled plastic container which readily accepts a variety of labels and is configured to protect the labels.
In summary, a thin-walled multi-label container in accordance with the present invention generally includes side walls, a bottom, a top having a neck, a handle, one or more label surfaces and a bumper. Corner portions interconnect adjacent side edge portions of respective side walls. A curved base portion interconnects an adjacent bottom edge portion of a respective side wall with an adjacent edge portion of the bottom. A curved crown portion interconnects an adjacent top edge portion of a respective side wall with an adjacent edge portion of the top. The handle is formed in a region extending along one of the curved corner portions within the profile of the container and provides an aperture for receiving the fingers of a user. The label surfaces are located on respective side walls. The bumper extends around the periphery of the container across each of the upstanding side walls and projects outward from each of the side walls a distance sufficient to prevent contact of the label surfaces against any flat surface abutting against the container. The container also includes a downward facing shoulder located on a corner portion located intermediate the bumper and the top which defines a recessed portion of the corner portion which extends between the bumper and the shoulder. The recessed portion is adapted to receive a flexible sleeve label.
An object of the present invention is to provide a thin-walled multi-label container having a bumper configured to protect a label of the container against contact with a flat surface abutting against the container.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a thin-walled multi-label container having means to minimize and/or prevent label wear and damage due to contact with abutting surfaces, including similar abutting containers in a filling line or in a carrying case.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a thin-walled multi-label container configured to accept multiple labels of various sizes and types, including large and small adhesive, painted labels, and flexible sleeve labels.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.